Boric acid is used commercially as a water treatment agent, particularly as an agent that inhibits the formation of amorphous silica scale in industrial water systems. The use of an admixture of a water-soluble polypolar organic compound containing hydroxyl, primary amino, or secondary amino functional groups, and having a molecular weight not exceeding 500, together with boric acid or another boron compound that forms orthoborate ion when dissolved in or hydrolyzed by water, as an inhibitor of amorphous silica scale formation on surfaces in contact with industrial waters, is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,047, issued on Jul. 30, 1985, inventor Leonard Dubin, incorporated hereinto by reference. Also disclosed in this patent is that boric acid and its water-soluble salts and/or any boron compound that forms orthoborate ion by dissolving in industrial waters or by hydrolysis under industrial water environments may by themselves protect against and inhibit the formation of amorphous silica scale on surfaces in contact with these industrial waters. The use of boric acid and/or such other boron compounds by themselves as amorphous silica scale inhibitor agents is also disclosed, and is described in more detail, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,104, issued Apr. 22, 1986, inventor Leonard Dubin, incorporated hereinto by reference.
Boric acid also has other commercial and/or industrial applications. Boric acid is commonly added to commercial plating solutions as a buffer. Boric acid, which has bacteriostatic and fungicidal properties, is used in washing citric fruits to inhibit mold, as an additive to mildew-resistant latex paints, and as a mild antiseptic additive in consumer products such as mouthwashes, hair rinses, and the like. Boron compounds are good absorbers of thermal neutrons, and thus are found in many nuclear industry applications. For instance, high purity boric acid is added to the cooling water used in high-pressure water reactors. Boric acid is also used as a fire retardant.
In the aforementioned commercial and/or industrial uses of boric acid, which generally are also applicable to its water-soluble salts and/or any boron compound that forms orthoborate ion by dissolving in water or by hydrolysis under water environments, the boron compound is or may be employed as a solute in an aqueous system. When boric acid and/or its water-soluble salts and/or any boron compound that forms orthoborate ion by dissolving in water or by hydrolysis under water environments, is so employed as a solute in an aqueous system, it often is desirable to monitor the boric acid and/or its water-soluble salts and/or any boron compound that forms orthoborate ion by dissolving in water or by hydrolysis under water environments (referred to at times hereinafter as "boron compound(s)"), in such system. By the terminology of "monitor" and/or "monitoring" is meant herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, the tracing or tracking to determine the location and/or route of such boron compound(s) in the aqueous system or loss of such boron compound(s) from the aqueous system, and/or the determination of the concentration or amount of the boron compound(s) at any given site or within any given area, including singular, intermittent semi-continuous monitoring. The test methods most commonly used presently to determine the presence and/or concentration of boric acid in aqueous systems are difficult to perform or not very accurate. One such method, known in the technical field as the carmine red method, is hazardous to perform because it requires the use of concentrated acid. Methods which measure color development with a comparator are less accurate than desired, for instance not distinguishing between a boric acid concentration of 70 ppm and 100 ppm. Another method, known in the technical field as the mannital titration method, can suffer from interferences. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for monitoring a boron compound composition, in a fluid system, particularly an aqueous system, and more particularly when such composition is fed to the fluid system as a silica scale deposit inhibitor. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for the treatment of an industrial water system (aqueous industrial system) in which a boron compound(s) is an active treatment agent, the improvement characterized by feeding to such water system a composition, particularly a solution such as an aqueous-based solution, containing a boron compound(s) and having enhanced detectability. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for the treatment of an industrial water system in which a boron compound(s) is an active treatment agent, the improvement characterized by feeding to such water system an aqueous-based boron compound(s) composition having such enhanced detectability that the monitoring of the boron compound(s) requires no hazardous materials, and is very sensitive and accurate. These and other objects of the present invention are described in more detail below.